Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2760)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
1171	Andrew Carnegie Middle	Public	6-8	5820 Illinois Ave.	Orangevale	95662	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7853	687	30	23	45.9%	405 (59.0%)	12 (1.7%)	168 (24.5%)	31 (4.5%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.6%)	66 (9.6%)	$17,127			$1,863			$15,264	50.3	57.5	950	221		063462005760
1172	21st Century Learning Institute	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	939 East 10th St.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 769-8424	314	15	20.9	72.0%	68 (21.7%)	18 (5.7%)	193 (61.5%)	9 (2.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.7%)	$13,858			$1,220			$12,638	50.3	40.2	1454	282		060429013779
1173	Johnson Middle	Public	6-8	13603 Edwards St.	Westminster	92683	Orange County	Westminster	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 894-7244	505	28	18	90.3%	25 (5.0%)	6 (1.2%)	312 (61.8%)	148 (29.3%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.6%)	5 (1.0%)	$23,520			$3,175			$20,345	50.2	51.2	1134	39		064215006908
1174	Turtle Bay	Public	K-8	1330 Arboretum Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Redding Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 225-0035	692	32	21.6	73.6%	421 (60.8%)	10 (1.4%)	125 (18.1%)	15 (2.2%)	16 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	103 (14.9%)	$15,225			$163			$15,062	50.2	53.6	1051	123		063204009182
1175	Lewis H. Britton Middle	Public	6-8	80 West Central Ave.	Morgan Hill	95037	Santa Clara County	Morgan Hill Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 201-6160	637	27	23.6	45.1%	137 (21.5%)	7 (1.1%)	393 (61.7%)	50 (7.8%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	44 (6.9%)	$17,260			$627			$16,633	50.1	45.9	1281	106		062583003871
1176	Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts	Public, Charter	7-12	1917 B St.	Marysville	95901	Yuba County	Marysville Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 749-6157	366	23	15.9	52.2%	123 (33.6%)	4 (1.1%)	134 (36.6%)	31 (8.5%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	68 (18.6%)	$20,175			$1,412			$18,763	50	70	684	492		062409008671
1177	Sunny Brae Middle	Public	6-8	1430 Buttermilk Ln.	Arcata	95521	Humboldt County	Arcata Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-5988	232	13	17.3	54.3%	127 (54.7%)	2 (0.9%)	55 (23.7%)	6 (2.6%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (15.1%)	$20,923			$4,240			$16,683	50	44.8	1320	143		060300000236
1178	Parsons Junior High	Public	6-8	750 Hartnell Ave.	Redding	96002	Shasta County	Enterprise Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 224-4190	522	27	19.1	79.3%	225 (43.1%)	16 (3.1%)	135 (25.9%)	68 (13.0%)	11 (2.1%)	1 (0.2%)	66 (12.6%)	$16,197			$900			$15,297	50	44.1	1337	159		061281001442
1179	Endeavor Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	777 W. Shaw	Fresno	93704	Fresno County	Endeavor Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-0471	333	16	20.8	44.4%	156 (46.8%)	7 (2.1%)	116 (34.8%)	18 (5.4%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	32 (9.6%)	$12,928			$202			$12,726	50	55.4	1006	173		060253814487
1180	Thomas R. Pollicita Middle	Public	6-8	550 East Market St.	Daly City	94014	San Mateo County	Jefferson Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 991-1216	558	28	20.2	46.2%	11 (2.0%)	5 (0.9%)	304 (54.5%)	202 (36.2%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	28 (5.0%)	$17,586			$2,059			$15,527	50	37.2	1560	380		061887002281

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 9, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.